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Is it just me, or does a $500,000 fine against Bill Belichick, head coach of the New England Patriots, and a $250,000 fine against the team seem like a pat on the wrist for being caught cheating.

To be up front, I am not a fan of the Pats (Go Bears!). Why do they have to represent all of New England, one state not good enough for them? Why does Tom Brady always look so smug? But I digress.

My gripe is this; that the NFL figures imposing a 250k fine on a team that has an estimated worth of $1.2 billion and taking away their first draft pick (from a team that probably doesn’t need one) is sufficient punishment.

I won’t go so far as to question the Patriots Super Bowl victories, I mean come on we are talking about one of most talented rosters in the NFL, but I will question their integrity. I’m with Tim Kawakami on this one, “if somebody big gets caught doing one thing wrong, he probably has been doing 999 other things wrong that have slipped under the radar.”

Suspending Belichick probably won’t dent the Patriots season, or make Tom Brady’s arm weak and inaccurate, and it certainly won’t satisfy the legions of Patriots haters hoping for a pound of flesh. But there’s a chance it may dissuade Belichick from cheating again, or at the very least he’ll be less obvious next time.